Schedule set for senior curling: Action begins at The Fox on Saturday morning

SUMMERSIDE -- P.E.I. teams will see action in the very first draw of the Canadian senior curling championships, which get underway at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club on Saturday at 8 a.m.
The event runs from March 21 to 28.

Saskatchewan skip Eugene Hritzuk will defend his Canadian senior men's curling championship in Summerside next week. Hritzuk is pictured here making a shot during the 2006 Canadian senior curling championships at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in S

SUMMERSIDE -- P.E.I. teams will see action in the very first draw of the Canadian senior curling championships, which get underway at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club on Saturday at 8 a.m.
The event runs from March 21 to 28.
The Mel Bernard rink from the host club will face Ontario's Bruce Delaney on Ice 1, and Shirley Berry from the Cornwall Curling Club will play Ontario's Cheryl McBain on Ice 2.
The P.E.I. men and women will see action on Ice 3 and 4 on Saturday, at 4:30 p.m., against Alberta's David Olsen and Peggy Harper.

Men's champion back
P.E.I. teams play just one draw on Sunday, at 7:30 p.m., against Saskatchewan's Eugene Hritzuk and Deb Thierman.
Hritzuk is the defending Canadian senior men's champion, and his team from the Nutana Curling Club returns intact -- third stone Kevin Kalthoff, second stone Verne Anderson and lead Dave Folk.
The Pat Saunders-skipped 2008 senior women's championship rink from British Columbia is not attending this year. Kathy Smiley is this year's British Columbia representative.
Bernard and Berry have back-to-back games on Monday. They play Northern Ontario's Ian Fisher and Barbara Ward at 4:30 p.m., and head back out at 7:30 against Quebec's Mike Carson and Rolande Madore.

Jenkins returns
Tuesday evening, P.E.I. plays the Newfoundland and Labrador teams, Bill Jenkins and Barbara Pinsent, in the 7:30 draw.
This is a homecoming of sorts for Jenkins. In 1971, he was the skip of the only junior men's team from P.E.I. to ever win a world junior curling championship.

Brier connection
Wednesday, P.E.I. will face the Yukon/Northwest Territories' Brad Whitehead and Wendy Ondrack at 8 a.m., and Manitoba's Brent Strachen and Lois Fowler at 4:30 p.m. Fowler and coach Brian Fowler are parents of Rob Fowler, second stone on Jeff Stoughton's Manitoba rink that finished second at the recent Tim Hortons Brier.
The Island teams face Nova Scotia's Bryan MacPherson and Colleen Pinkney on Thursday at 2:30 p.m., and that evening at 7:30 P.E.I. takes on B.C.'s Brian Gessner and Smiley.
P.E.I. completes round-robin play Friday at 8 a.m., against New Brunswick's Russ Howard and Sharon Levesque. Howard is one of the most recognizable names in curling. He has two Canadian and world championships to his credit and is an Olympic gold medallist.
The finals are Saturday at 2 p.m.

A total of 24 teams -- 12 men teams and 12 women - will compete, including one from each province, Yellowknife/Northwest Territories and Northern Ontario.

Teams from each province and territory keep the same schedule throughout round-robin play. Any time the P.E.I. men are playing, the Island women are also in action. Provincial men and women counterparts are always on adjacent ices throughout the round robin.

Depending on tiebreakers, the playoff round will start as early as 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 27, or as late as late as 9 a.m., Saturday, March 28.

The championship finals are scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m.

The men's and women's champions will represent Canada at the world senior curling championships in Dunedin, New Zealand, April 24 to May 3.

Saskatchewan skip Eugene Hritzuk will defend his Canadian senior men's curling championship in Summerside next week. Hritzuk is pictured here making a shot during the 2006 Canadian senior curling championships at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in S